10 female singers

Ariana Grande-Butera, known professionally as Ariana Grande, is an American singer and actress. She began her career in the Broadway musical 13, before landing the role of Cat Valentine on the Nickelodeon television series Victorious in 2009.

Singer, songwriter and actress Britney Spears was born on December 2, 1981, in Kentwood, Louisiana. She began performing on the TV show The All New Mickey Mouse Club when she was 11 years old. Not long after, Spears began gaining fame as a pop artist. In January 1999, her song "Baby One More Time" reached the top of the pop charts. Spears has since been one of the most successful—and sometimes controversial—solo acts in pop music. Additionally, in 2012, she began appearing as a judge on the popular singing-competition show The X Factor.

Born on July 24, 1969, in the Bronx, New York, Jennifer Lopez danced on the TV show In Living Color before her starring role in the film Selena. She turned to music and found major success on the pop and dance charts with hits like "Get Right" and "Play" while continuing to garner Hollywood film work. She married salsa icon Marc Anthony in 2006 and had twins; the couple split a few years later.

Born on December 13, 1989, in Reading, Pennsylvania, Taylor Swift's family moved to nearby Wyomissing where she started crafting songs at age 5, and at age 16, released her debut album. Hits like "Love Story" and "You Belong With Me" appealed to country and pop fans alike and helped fuel the multiplatinum success of her albums, with Fearless the 2009 top-seller. She has won many awards, including several Grammy Awards, and modeled for Cover Girl.

Katy Perry was born October 25, 1984, in Santa Barbara, California. After having three record deals fall apart, she signed with Capitol in 2007. Later that year, she released her first single, "Ur So Gay." Still, her career did not fully take off until the release of her next single, "I Kissed a Girl". Her album Teenage Dreams was released in August 2010.

Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta was born on March 28, 1986 in Yonkers, New York, to Cynthia and Joseph Germanotta. Germanotta, now known as Lady Gaga (she has attributed the inspiration for her name to the Queen song "Radio Ga-Ga"), went on to become an international pop star.

Adele Laurie Blue Adkins was born on May 5, 1988, in North London, England. She was the only child of Penny Adkins, an "arty mom" who was just 18 at the time of her birth, and a Welsh father, Mark, who left the family when Adele was only 4 years old.

Born Destiny Hope Cyrus on November 23, 1992, in Franklin, Tennessee, Miley Cyrus is the daughter of '90s country star Billy Ray Cyrus. (She later changed her name to "Miley," the nickname she was given as a baby for often smiling.) Cyrus grew up on the family farm, near Nashville, Tennessee, with two siblings and three half-siblings. She was passionate about acting at a young age, appearing on her father's television series, Doc, and in Tim Burton's Big Fish (2003).

Singer, actress and activist Carrie Marie Underwood was born on March 10, 1983, in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Since winning the famed musical talent show American Idol in 2005, Underwood has emerged as one of the most popular female performers in country music today. She was born and raised on a farm. "I had a very happy childhood full of the wonderful simple things that children love to do," Underwood stated on her website. "Growing up in the country, I enjoyed things like playing on dirt roads, climbing trees, catching little woodland creatures and, of course, singing."

Singer Robyn Rihanna Fenty was born on February 20, 1988, in St. Michael Parish on the Caribbean island of Barbados. She is the eldest of three children born to Monica Fenty, an accountant, and Ronald Fenty, a warehouse supervisor. Rihanna's childhood was marred by her father's struggles with addictions to alcohol and crack cocaine and her parents' marital problems—they divorced when she was 14 years old.